


All Tricks, No Treats

by 1004_Angel, projectml



Series: Project: Bug-A-Boo [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:51:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9237821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1004_Angel/pseuds/1004_Angel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/projectml/pseuds/projectml
Summary: Things aren’t what they seem when a mysterious entity causes trouble at Marinette’s Halloween party.





	

“So what are you dressing up as for the Halloween party tonight?” Marinette asked, closing her locker door. Alya pushed herself from the wall and shifted her books to one hand.

“Wonder Woman,” Alya chanted as the girls made their way to the front of the school.

“As expected,” Marinette giggled.

The crisp autumn air filled Marinette’s lungs as they stepped out into the clear October day. The front staircase of François Dupont was blanketed in layers of freshly fallen leaves that danced in the light gusts that whistled through the streets of Paris and ruffled Marinette’s hair. The leaves that remained on their branches were a multicolored kaleidoscope that rustled with the threading wind.

The two girls relaxed against the wall, books under one arm and, in Alya’s case, cell phone in the other.

“How about you?” Alya asked as she pulled up a photo of her costume.

“It’s a surprise,” Marinette winked. “I’ve been working all month on it, and I just have to put a few last touches on it tonight before the party.”

“I still can’t believe Adrien said yes to your invitation!”

Marinette’s body froze, her eyes growing impossibly wide and jaw dropping ever so slightly. “Adrien…”

“Yessss.” Alya raised a knowing eyebrow. “He managed to get permission to go to your party, so he and Nino are coming, remember?”

“Adrien… in my house…”

“Yes, that’s what happens when you invite someone over.”

“But – _my room_!”

Marinette had invited everyone in the class to a small American-style Halloween party at her house; most of the students had other plans already (with Chloe flat out refusing), but Adrien had been beside himself at the thought of being invited to a party. While Adrien’s acceptance of Marinette’s invitation had required several minutes of breathing exercises and reassurance, his actual presence at the party had barely registered until that point, and consequently, Marinette’s room still held wall to wall posters of Adrien.

“Why would he even go into your room?” Alya asked. “It’s not like –“

Marinette’s ringing cell phone cut Alya off. A look at the caller ID revealed it to be Madame Chamak.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Marinette!” The older woman sounded relieved. “I’m so glad you picked up. I’m sorry to ask this of you so last minute, but something has come up and would you be willing to babysit Manon tonight? I know it’s Halloween but Manon would be very excited to spend it with you!”

The idea of babysitting Manon on the night of her party was not tempting, to say the least. The thought of having energetic Manon running around her feet while she tried (and failed) to flirt with Adrien was horrifying. Manon’s infamous tendency to cause trouble combined with Marinette’s own clumsiness was bound to cause more than one mishap. But Marinette found herself saying, albeit painfully, “No… problem,” she managed sweetly, speaking through her teeth.

“Oh thank you!” Madame Chamak rejoiced. “I’ll drop her off around six o’clock, is that alright with you?”

The two hashed out last minute details before hanging up. Marinette let her hand drop to her side, phone gripped tightly, and let out a heavy sigh.

“What was that?” Alya asked, shifting her books to her other hip.

“Madame Chamak needs me to babysit Manon tonight.”

Alya sent her a half-lidded stare. “Is this one of those times where you just can’t say no?”

Marinette didn’t even bother to argue. “Manon is… just…”

“Let me guess: an angel?” Alya shook her head, the corner of her mouth quirking into a knowing smile.

Marinette hung her head.

“Look at it this way.” Alya slung an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “Adrien will see how good you are with kids and he’ll realize what amazing wife material you are!”

“ _Alya_!”

“What’s this about wife material?”

Marinette’s face turned impossibly redder at the sound of that voice. She and Alya turned to see both Nino and Adrien approaching, the former with his hands stuffed deep into pockets and backpack slung lazily over one shoulder, and the latter looking as suave as ever flashing a smile that could supply Paris with enough power to last a week.

“Uhm… _white_! White material!” Marinette managed, untangling herself from Alya’s grasp.  “For my, uh, costume! I just have some, uh, last minute touches and I was just telling Alya I need white material! Heh heh…”

“Oh,” Adrien grinned. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like. I bet it’s amazing!”

Marinette squeaked.

“Oh it is,” Alya said, and wiggled her eyebrows for good measure. “It’s super sexy, total dude-magnet.”

The boys flushed at that, and Marinette dropped her forehead into Alya’s shoulder, her face burning. Alya didn’t even know what her costume was, so why, why, _why_ did her best friend see the need to do that? As certified wingwoman, it was in her job description but there was a line and sometimes Alya took one giant leap for Marinette-kind over it.

“I, um, can’t wait,” Nino choked out.

Adrien looked embarrassed, if not for himself then for Marinette, and said nothing. Marinette wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“Oh hey,” Alya drew the boys’ attention to allow her friend some time to gather herself. “Is it okay if we bring Manon along?”

“Who’s Manon?”

“That little girl from one of Adrien’s shoots in the park,” Alya explained. “Marinette babysits her sometimes and her mom just called us.”

Nino shrugged. “Yeah, I’m cool with that.”

Adrien’s eyes lit up. “I remember her! She was adorable.”

Alya clapped her hands together. “So it’s settled!”

Marinette peeked up at Alya through her fingers, and Alya shot her a wink. Marinette groaned.

A honk from Adrien’s driver disturbed the conversation. Adrien looked almost disappointed to leave, but the emotion was gone from his face in an instant. “We’ll see you later, Marinette!” he waved, as he and Nino clambered into the back of the silver limo.

“I wonder what the boys are going as,” Alya mused.

“ _Alya, I can’t believe you did that_ ,” Marinette practically sobbed.

“Trust me girl, I know what I’m doing. Now let’s get to your place and finish setting up!”

Apparently, Marinette’s definition of “setting up” was different than Alya’s. Marinette’s parents had vacated the house for the night, leaving the girls to string up fake spider webs in the corners, hang black and orange pumpkins from the ceiling, and whip up snacks in skull-shaped bowls and pour apple cider into severed leg cups. Alya was preparing the list of horror films while Marinette scattered plastic spiders through the house when Manon arrived, dressed as a miniature Ladybug.

Marinette instantly forgot her unwillingness to keep the little girl around that night. Seeing Manon dressed as her hero and jumping from couch to couch, pretending to be swinging through the city, made the designer’s heart melt.

Adrien and Nino wouldn’t arrive for another half hour, so Alya, who was already decked out in her Wonder Woman costume, agreed to watch Manon while Marinette went to change clothes (and quickly take down her posters of Adrien and duct tape the schedule closed).

Marinette shut the trapdoor and faced the mannequin, the handmade witch costume ready and waiting. The design alone had taken Marinette over a week to complete, every other design scrapped for being too young or too average.

Marinette slowly began to don the costume piece-by-piece, starting with the one-piece dress that left her slip shoulders bare as it hugged the smooth column of her throat, the small golden bell resting calmly against her chest. The sleeves, kept in place with costume adhesive, began halfway down her bicep and flared out at the wrist, long swaths of fabric swishing across the floor as she moved. The skirt flared out halfway down her thigh, the white-gold ruffle tickling the bare skin. Marinette was glad she had discarded the thigh-high boots idea, and instead settled for black stockings of the same ebony color of the dress.

Her costume almost complete, Marinette slid in front of her vanity and let her hair down from its pigtails, giving the strands a quick brush before reaching for the iron. A couple of minutes later saw Marinette sporting a hairstyle that rested in spiral waves around her shoulders, her bangs arranged to fall mysteriously in front of her eyes. The costume was completed with a large black witch hat.

Just in time too, since the telltale slam of doors and deeper voices drifting through the cracks indicated Adrien and Nino’s arrival. Marinette cast a quick look around her room, double-checking for any incriminating posters or photos left on the walls or desks. Seeing none, she took one last look in the mirror.

“You can do this Mari,” she said, poking her reflection in the mirror. “You can survive a Halloween party with Adrien. You’re Ladybug, you can do _anything_.”

Tikki roused from her sock bed in the loft, peering down at her charge with shining eyes. “You look amazing, Marinette!” she twittered, zooming down to float near the girl’s shoulder. “You’re gonna blow Adrien right out of the water!”

“I hope so,” Marinette sighed. “Are you going to be okay by yourself for a couple hours?”

Tikki nodded. “Yep! Just be careful, Marinette. I’ve been around a long time, and Halloween is a holiday that is fueled by strong negative emotions. Hawk Moth may try something tonight, so be on your guard!”

“Yeah, I figured,” Marinette said and clenched her black nail-polished fingers. “At the first sign of trouble I’ll get the others to safety and then come find you.”

“Have fun!”

With Tikki’s encouragement, Marinette finally threw open the trapdoor. The muffled voices were now crystal clear as Marinette made her way downstairs.

“Say cheese!”

“ _Cheeeeeeeese_!”

Marinette saw Nino first. Dressed in a store bought zombie costume, he stood beside Alya with their backs facing Marinette. Marinette couldn’t see Adrien until she rounded the corner, and she froze, almost twisting her ankle as her stockinged feet slid on the kitchen floor.

Adrien was kneeling on the ground, Manon propped on one knee as they both smiled for the camera, wearing identical Ladybug costumes. Marinette felt her jaw slowly dropping as she took in her own red and black costume against Adrien’s fair complexion, the skin tight suit highlighting all the right places. He even wore a plastic copy of her yo-yo around his hip, and a felt mask over his eyes. His hair fell naturally across his forehead, but still yielded the appearance of perfection.

Alya and Nino snapped more photos of the twin Ladybugs as Marinette remained locked in place, her conscience frantically scrambling to reboot the system.

“Oh, Marinette!”

Alya was the first to notice the arrival of the final member of their party, redirecting her cell phone in Marinette’s direction. Marinette found enough systems back online to at least smile for the camera and strike a witchy pose or two. Nino did the same, though he looked rather bashful, being between Alya in a form-fitting Amazonian superheroine getup and Marinette, his former crush, in a dress.

“Wow, Marinette!” Adrien murmured, standing to his full height, Manon’s hand tightly enclosed in his. “That’s incredible. Did you really make that yourself?”

Marinette nodded dumbly, hoping the shade cast by her hat would be enough to conceal her reddening face.

“Is that a Soul Eater cosplay?” Adrien asked, taking one of the long sleeves in his fingers and examining the seams. “Blair the magic cat?”

There was something in Adrien’s tone that Marinette couldn’t quite place, a sort of amusement like he had an inside joke he was dying to tell but couldn’t. There was a mischievous glint in his green eyes as his gaze roamed over her face.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Marinette, nodding so vigorously that her hat slid awkwardly to one side. Adrien quickly straightened it out, tugging on the brim until it fit snugly around her head. “I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a witch or a black cat, so I did both?”

“Black cat? As in Chat Noir?” Adrien blinked, his expression slightly interested.

“Aw, dude, woulda been sick,” Nino said jovially, slinging his arm across Adrien’s shoulders. “Then ya’ll woulda matched!”

Marinette felt herself flush at that. If Adrien found Alya’s insinuation embarrassing or awkward, he didn’t let on. “Well, I think it looks great,” he winked. “You always look great.”

Marinette had to make a conscious effort not to swoon. She settled for ducking her head so that he wouldn’t see the red rising in her cheeks.

“Get a room,” Alya coughed not-so-subtly into her hand.

Marinette was saved from having to respond when Manon tugged on her sleeve. “Marinette!” she whined, drawing out the syllables of her name. “I wanna play a game!”

“A game?”

“What kind of game?”

Manon tapped her gloved finger against her lip before a wide grin stretched on her face. “Pin the tail on the donkey!”

“Aw man, I haven’t played that in forever,” Nino reminisced.

Adrien merely looked confused. “Pin the tail on the donkey? What’s that?”

Alya, Marinette, and Nino exchanged looks. Of course their sheltered friend wouldn’t know. Nino patted Adrien’s shoulder, grinning widely. Marinette fetched cardboard, and Alya went straight for the markers.

“Adrien, my man,” he said. “Watch and learn.”

Fifteen minutes saw the small party situated in a comfortable semi-circle around a crude drawing of a donkey on a stretch of cardboard, haphazardly colored in by an overly energetic seven year old that had found the Dupain-Cheng Secret Stash, and haunting instrumental music playing the background.

“I wanna go first!” Manon declared, and none of the teenagers were in a position to tell her no. Marinette wrapped the makeshift blindfold around the little girl’s eyes, and the game began. There was no point-keeping system, just the slow turn-based game and the occasional bout of laughter when someone stuck the makeshift tail into the poor donkey’s stomach.

Marinette slowly began to relax. The earlier tension from her crush being in the room (and dressed as herself, no less) had drained away as they hung onto each other from laughing when Alya having somehow managed to pin the tail in the donkey’s eye. Sometime during the festivities it had begun to rain, drops racing down the window panes as thunder softly boomed in the distance. Wind tousled the window chimes, giving their Halloween party the final touch for the ultimate, creepy aura. Well, creepy enough without being too terrifying to a seven-year-old, anyway.

Pin the tail on the donkey soon changed to “mummy wrap,” a game in which two teams picked a victim and wrapped them as best as they could in toilet paper and a judge decided who was the best mummy. Manon declared herself judge, and pit the girls against the boys. Alya took the challenge very seriously. She and Marinette won almost instantly, what with Adrien looking more like a TPed brick house rather than a mummy, thanks to Nino.

The games went on for longer until Alya called for food break. Pizza was ordered, candy was distributed, and drinks were poured. Manon had fallen asleep in the middle of Guess the Body Part (Nino refused to touch the brain-spaghetti) , and was currently curled up in Marinette’s room. Just as Marinette was about to take a bite from her pizza, a blaring noise from outside sounded loudly over the rain, startling all five partygoers. Confused, Marinette lowered the slice and craned her neck to get a look at the window.

“What was that?” Adrien asked, one hand subconsciously going to the ring on his finger. Marinette wondered if it was a stress or fidget ring.

“Sounded like a horn,” Alya observed.

“I’ll check it out,” said Nino, standing up. “It was probably just a car horn or some kid playing a prank.”

He went to the window, sliding it open and peering outside. When he didn’t move for a moment, the other three teens went to see what had caught Nino’s attention.

“Nino?” Marinette asked, standing on her toes to peer over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Nino was tense, eyes slitted as he stared out into the dim street, barely illuminated by a flickering street lamp. “I don’t see anything,” he said finally, taking his hand off the damp windowsill and rubbing them on his costume. “It was probably nothing.”

“Let’s get back to eating then,” Alya suggested, and took a large bite of pizza. “Can’t fight ghosts on an empty stomach.”

“You can’t fight ghosts, period,” Nino countered, tossing a piece of candy into his mouth. “They’re intangible and you can’t see them.”

“Yeah, what about all those pictures on the internet?”

“Doctored, duh.”

Marinette wasn’t really looking to get into ghost discourse, and neither it seemed was Adrien. He met her eyes and nodded his head toward the living room, and Marinette followed suit, plate of food in hand. She sat on the couch while Adrien rifled through their video game selection, murmuring the names of each one as he flipped through them.

“Sorry if this party is super boring,” Marinette said into her drink. “I know it probably wasn’t what you were expecting.”

“It’s better than what I was expecting, Marinette,” Adrien assured her, pulling a game from the shelf. “This is the first Halloween party I’ve ever been to, and I couldn’t be happier to share it with all of you.”

Marinette smiled softly, eyes following the movements of her fingers as they fiddled with the corner of a couch cushion.

“What game is this?” Adrien’s question jerked her back to attention. He was holding a DVD of an old video board game from the nineties. Sabine had tried to throw it away several times but Tom insisted that they kept it.

“That’s Nightmare,” said Marinette, taking the box and turning over in her hands to read the back. “It’s my dad’s; never actually played it.”

Adrien’s grin widened. “Wanna play?”

Marinette felt the fires of competition begin to kindle in her gut, Adrien’s veiled challenge overriding any other nerves she felt in the presence of her crush. “You’re on.”

The board was set, and the game began. The tv flickered to life, a child’s laughter ringing in the dimmed light. A man eventually appeared on screen, his face haggard and worn, greasy hair against his neck peeked out from beneath the black hood that obscured the rest of his upper body. He was back light with a purple light that gave him an ominous air.

“So,” he said in a deep, gravelly tone. “ _You want to play the game? My game with my rules? I’m… THE GATEKEEPER_!”

Marinette jumped as he screamed the name, instinctively latching onto Adrien’s arm. It took her a moment to realize that he had done the same, and both of them were clutching onto one another. They separated quickly with flushed faces as The Gatekeeper continued to speak. “ _Roll the dice, and begin your Nightmare_!”

A soft _plink!_ sound, like two coins clicking together, somewhere to the left. Then again, and again. But it wasn’t coming from the game, whose screen had faded to a timer, counting the seconds. Marinette and Adrien slowly glanced at each other, each wearing poorly disguised frenzied expressions.

“Probably a branch or something,” Marinette tried to reassure herself.

“Yeah, probably,” Adrien agreed.

“You guys hear something?” Nino spoke this time, walking into the room with Alya.

“It’s the ghost I keep telling you about,” Alya joked, raising her hands as if she were about to strike. “The ghost of the man who used to live in this house!”

“Stop scaring us, Alya,” Marinette chided. “We were just about to play this game.”

“Join us,” Adrien invited, expression relaxed but muscles tense.

_Plink! Plink!_

“Okay, I definitely heard something that time.” Nino followed the direction where the sound had been coming from, drawing back the curtain to peer into the rain. It had lightened up a little but still fell heavily around them in sheets. The remaining three teens crowded around until they were all leaning out the window in search of the source of the noises.

_Plink!_

“Over there!” Alya pointed to the left.

_Plink!_

“No, it’s over here,” Adrien directed everyone’s attention to the right, but nothing was visible.

Marinette was beginning to get seriously freaked out, but she had to hold herself together. Had she done anything to anyone to possibly cause an akuma to come after her? Had Adrien, Alya, or Nino? No, akumas weren’t usually ones for subtleties, usually loudly announcing their name and purpose so the entirety of Paris cowered in fear. Marinette hadn’t experienced an akuma being inconspicuous. Usually, there was one specific person responsible for the negative emotions necessary to be akumatized. Maybe it was a thief…!?

Marinette shook her head. She couldn’t rule out the possibility of an akumatized victim. In which case, she couldn’t sit by and do nothing! Her entire body on edge, she began planning a way to slip away and fetch Tikki when–

_“STOP!”_

Four identical screams as four bodies jumped at least a foot into the air. Marinette had no idea Nino’s voice could hit such an impressive pitch.

“ _Stop right there_!” yelled the Gatekeeper, his purple glow illuminating the dim room in an eerie light. She had forgotten the game video was still playing on the television.

Alya clutched a hand to her chest. Adrien doubled over with his head bowed against his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Marinette leaned against a wall to find stability for her quaking knees. None of them had noticed the tension in the room until the game had broken the silence. The coil had been released at last, but it was indeterminable how long it would remain that way.

“That scared the _hell outta me_ ,” Alya panted.

Adrien shakily took the remote in his hands and paused the video. His eyes continued to flick to the light jacket he had brought, and Marinette wondered what could be so important about it. She almost thought she saw it move, like he kept a mouse in his pocket, but quickly cast that thought aside; she didn’t need any more surprises right now.

“But the noises weren’t coming from the game,” Marinette said. As if to prove her point, there was one final _plink_ against the rain soaked window before it went silent.

The four stood rooted to the spot, as if a single movement would startle the source of the noises back to life.

The bell on the bakery’s front door rang.

Nino was visibly shaking now, the movement slight but a shudder down his spine nonetheless. “Just… the wind?” he tried.

Marinette shook her head slowly, not moving her eyes away from her friends. “The bell’s on the inside.”

 _Footsteps_.

Heavy, wet, squelching footsteps squeaked against the clean floor of the downstairs bakery.

Marinette couldn’t allow herself to be scared. Even if Adrien was wearing the spots, _she was Ladybug_. She had faced monsters unlike anyone had ever seen, and here she was quaking in her boots. She had to do what she could to defend her friends.

So why couldn’t she move? She was frozen, unable to force her legs into motion. All she could do was stare the door, behind which the steps creaked, low and labored, as the intruder in slowly climbed the steps. Alya and Nino seemed to be in no better shape. While Alya had been on the sidelines for plenty of akuma attacks, never before had she actually been in the face as one so presumably terrifying as this, even when was about to be sacrificed to a sun god. Nino had always done his damndest to stay out of the line of fire, and had no idea how to handle being in the thick of an attack.

And Adrien, who had never even been akumatized… she would not let any harm come to him.

Adrien, it seemed, had other plans.

He leapt into action, wrapping his hand around Marinette’s wrist. In any other circumstance, Marinette probably would have hyperventilated at the contact. He yanked her into motion, pulling her quickly across the room so he could grab his coat (was he so cold he had to grab it in the face of an akuma?) and jerk Alya and Nino from their stupor.

“Let’s go!” he hissed, quietly but urgently. Marinette allowed him to drag her up the stairs into her room, their friends right behind.

Marinette quickly swept up Manon from where she slept on the chaise so Adrien and Nino could move it over the trap door as a barricade. Luckily, Manon seemed to be a heavy sleeper, and merely adjusted herself in the older girl’s arms.

Marinette’s nerves were soothed only in the knowledge that Tikki was close by. But she couldn’t transform in front of her friends; Alya, the founder of the Ladyblog, and Adrien, _who was currently dressed as her_. Marinette was not looking forward to the awkwardness that would surely follow.

The intruder had reached the living room right below them. Adrien got to his hands and knees and pressed his ear to the floor, face screwed in intense concentration. “Sounds like they’re pacing,” he reported. “Probably really big, judging from the footsteps.”

“ _Dude_!” Nino wailed, tugging at the sleeves of his costume. “ _We’re just teenagers, what are we gonna do to a giant man-eating monster_!?”

“Who said it was man-eating?” Alya rolled her eyes. “It’s probably that guy from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

“Not helping, Alya.”

“Quiet, I can’t hear.” Adrien shushed them.

“If only Ladybug were here,” Alya bemoaned, thumb absentmindedly stroking her phone as she gripped it tightly. “She’d take on an akuma and we’d be right in the middle of the action!”

“Because Ladybug and akuma tearing up our living room is a great idea,” Marinette muttered.

“Well yeah that’d suck but doesn’t she have that magical cure or whatever?” Nino pointed out. “Besides, I’d rather see Chat Noir in action; that guy’s got _moves_.”

“Something tells me we’re not going to see Chat Noir,” Adrien muttered, so quietly Marinette almost thought she’d imagined it.

“Marinette?” said a sleepy Manon, having finally awoken. “I have to pee.”

Marinette exchanged looks with her friends, each of them trying not to look like there was nothing wrong.

“Oh, sure,” Marinette nodded with a forced smile. “Come on, let’s go.”

“ _Marinette_!” Alya hissed, quietly so Manon couldn’t hear. “ _There’s an axe murderer akuma downstairs, you can’t take a kid down there_!”

“I’ll come too,” Adrien volunteered, taking Manon’s hand. “Us Ladybugs gotta stick together after all.”

They waited until they all agreed they couldn’t hear the intruder below. Quickly and gently, Alya and Nino moved the chaise from its position to allow Marinette, Adrien, and Manon to slip through. Manon was still confused as to what was happening, and happily played along with the game of “hide and seek.”

Adrien went down the stairs first to confirm the floor was empty, before motioning for the girls to follow. Luckily it was a short dash to the bathroom, Marinette making sure to lock the door behind them. Adrien, his face a little red, kept his ear to the door while Marinette helped Manon with her business.

When Manon was finished, he gestured that they wait until he was sure it was okay to make the break back to Marinette’s room. Just as he moved to give the signal, a huge force suddenly rammed itself into the door, causing Adrien to trip back onto himself, nearly elbowing Marinette in the face due to the small confines of the bathroom. The force hit again, and Manon gripped Marinette’s skirt tightly.

“Marinette, what is that?” she asked, trembling.

Marinette knelt and patted the smaller girl on the head. “It’s okay, Manon. Everything is okay; can you stay in here while Adrien and I scare the bad guy away?”

Manon nodded, for once doing as she was told. She huddled in the small space between toilet and sink, humming the tune to her favorite cartoon.

“Think we can take him?” Marinette asked, slightly nervous. She didn’t feel as confident in her abilities without Tikki’s guiding strength, and without Chat Noir here…

Adrien placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling confidently. “We can do this, Marinette.”

“You seem strangely calm,” she quipped in an attempt to slow her rapidly beating heart, whether from nerves or Adrien’s hand, she couldn’t tell. “For a guy who’s going up against a who-knows-what Halloween monster.”

Adrien blanched a little. “Oh, uh… I guess dressing as Ladybug makes me really confident?”

Marinette could relate.

The slamming had stopped but they could see the shadow of feet from under the door that alerted them to the monster’s lingering presence. Marinette grasped the doorknob and glanced at Adrien from the corner of her eye. He had lowered into a low crouch, like a cat preparing to pounce, and it almost reminded her of Chat Noir, if he wore red and black.

Adrien met her eyes, giving her an encouraging smile and a firm nod. Marinette nodded back.

“One…”

“Two…”

They nodded. “Three.”

Marinette flung open the door and Adrien bolted, hardcore parkour-ing across the couch until he latched onto the intruder’s back, wrapping his legs around its middle and using an arm to block its sight. The intruder let out deep, masculine grunts as he flailed about, thick arms swinging wide in his rain slicker as he tried in vain to shake Adrien off. Marinette didn’t have enough time to wonder where on earth Adrien had gained the strength to hang on and just chalked it up to fencing reflexes. She instead devoted her attention to unmasking the intruder, dodging flailing limbs as she tried to get close to the slicker’s hood.

Each attempt to snatch the hood of the intruder and reveal its identity ended in failure. Finally fed up, she finally put her whole body weight into a massive shove that sent the intruder tumbling backwards until he collapsed onto the couch with a whump!

“Alright, I give up!” The intruder raised both his hands in the universal sign of surrender, a deep throaty laugh bubbling up from the darkness of the hood. “You defeated me.”

Marinette straightened to her full height, putting on her best courageous expression as Alya and Nino carefully treaded downstairs, eyeing the room warily.

Adrien, who had managed to let go before being crushed between man and couch, came up behind Marinette, arms folded across his chest and every bit pulling off the super hero image.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “Reveal yourself.”

The intruder reached up slowly. The slick hood made a wet dragging sound as it was pulled back and collapsed around his shoulders.

Marinette’s eyes popped.

“ _Papa_!?”

Tom Dupain burst into hoots of laughter, his entire body shaking. He slapped one hand across his knee, nearly crying as the four teens simply stood and stared in shock. Marinette’s mind was blank. _What on earth_ …?

“Pretty good Halloween prank, right dear?” Tom asked no one, until Sabine appeared from seemingly nowhere, a video camera in hand and a wide, mischievous grin. Marinette had no idea where her mother had been hiding this whole time, but from the amused glint in the older woman’s eye, she had seen everything.

The next two hours were spent in controlled chaos. Marinette tried to lecture her parents on proper party behavior, but soon the curiosity was overwhelming, and they watched the film. Apparently, Sabine had begun recording around the time Adrien had pulled out Nightmare, the camera angle putting her hiding place somewhere in the kitchen. Marinette had no idea how she had managed to stay out of sight during the whole ordeal.

Alya and Nino lamented their absence during the “boss battle” as Nino called it, but were laughing right along with everyone else during the admittedly amusing recording.

Madame Chamack came to pick up Manon around ten, the young girl fast asleep. Explaining the prank to Manon had been simpler than Marinette anticipated. Though she was scared, she knew everything would be okay because she knew Marinette and “Uncle Adrien” would would protect her.

“Are you and Adrien dating?” Manon asked innocently, blinking her large hazel eyes up at the two. Both teens turned a bright shade of red to match the color of Adrien’s costume. There were hurried excuses and denials, lots of hand waving and head shaking, yet Manon still was not convinced, even as she slowly succumbed to sleep.

“I’m sorry about that,” Marinette whispered to Adrien later.

Adrien only rubbed the back of his neck in response, his face red and eyes unable to meet hers.

It was almost midnight by the time Alya, Nino, and Adrien prepared to leave. Marinette walked them to the door, standing together just outside the threshold to try and extend the gathering for a little bit longer.

“Hey, Adrien, Marinette,” Alya said suddenly. “I know what you guys should do for Halloween next year.”

Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks. “What?”

“Adrien needs to throw a big Halloween party at his place, and then you guys show up as _Ladybug and Chat Noir_!”

Adrien and Marinette immediately broke into protests.

“Uh, that’s a bit…”

“Well, I mean it’s not a _bad idea_ but…”

“I don’t think I’d make a good Chat Noir anyway…”

“Besides you can’t repeat costumes, that’s like Halloween one-oh-one….”

Alya scoffed, hands on hips and a playful smile pulling on her lips. “Oh please, you two would _rock_ those costumes. Nino agrees with me, right Nino?”

Nino removed his headphones. “Huh?”

Alya sighed. “Come on, DJ Dork, we’re leaving.” She grabbed Nino by the scruff of his costume and dragged the wailing boy away, leaving Adrien standing awkwardly on Marinette’s doorstep.

“Thanks, Marinette, for inviting me,” Adrien smiled. “I really had a lot of fun.”

Marinette felt a balloon of happiness swell in her chest. “S-so did I.”

“So… see you at school?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. See you. Will you get home okay?”

Adrien smirked, and playfully flexed an arm. “I took down your dad. I can handle myself. Bye!”

“Bye.”

Marinette watched until Adrien, jacket slung over his shoulder, turned the corner and disappeared from view.

She sighed, a brief breeze lifting the corner of her sleeves and sending them fluttering behind her like pitch black wings. Somewhere in the distance, a crow cawed. Leaves scraped against the pavement.

Something went _plink_.

Marinette squeaked and ran inside, slamming the door behind her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was produced as part of a Project Miraculous Ladybug effort. In addition, we would like to thank the following beta readers for making the fic possible: @Sarahcada


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